PA-Gov: McCord Hits Wolf In New Ad (Watch)

Written by Brittany Foster, Managing Editor

McCord released a new ad today hitting Tom Wolf for his pervasive ads and that his company uses a cabinet manufacturer in Indiana.

“We’ve all seen Tom Wolf’s ads about his business, his kitchen cabinets and PA manufacturing so when I heard that they manufacture those cabinets in Indiana, I figured they were made by workers here,” McCord says to the camera. “[But] it’s not Indiana, Pennsylvania. It’s Indiana Indiana.”

He then discusses his record as a job creator in the private sector before he won the race for state treasurer.

“Tom Wolf’s ads are nice, but they’re miles away from the whole truth,” McCord concludes.

The 30-second spot captures McCord’s bombastic personality in this campaign, and the issue is a slam dunk for him as he has scored the greatest quantity of Pennsylvania labor organizations of anyone in the race.

We are now less than 3 weeks from the primary and the race for governor has taken a sharp turn to the negative. Wolf has been attacked roundly by Allyson Schwartz for his tax returns and the loan he took to partially finance his campaign. He’s also been hit by Schwartz and Governor Tom Corbett for the plagiarism spotted in his Fresh Start policy plan.

The four candidates (Katie McGinty has remained mostly above the fray) will appear in a forum together tomorrow night at Franklin and Marshall – the first time since the race became this heated.

UPDATE: Team Wolf responded to this latest ad with the following statement:

“The Wolf Organization sources Wolf-branded products made in the United States, some are made in Pennsylvania, some are made in other states. Tom Wolf has created hundreds of jobs in Pennsylvania and more throughout the country,” Wolf spokesman Mark Nicastre said. “This attack is particularly desperate given Rob McCord’s own record of outsourcing jobs, if it were up to Rob McCord, these jobs would be in India, not Indiana, or Pennsylvania.”

Rob McCord Encouraged and Trained Companies to Outsource Jobs: “The Eastern Technology Council, a trade organization McCord led from 1996 to 2007, partnered with Judge Group, a consultancy which offered services to council members, including advice on how to outsource jobs overseas…A survey of Eastern Technology Council members in 2006 found that 48 percent of respondents had shipped high-skill jobs overseas, about 90 percent of them to India, saving an average of 25 percent on staffing costs. A report on the poll is here on page 18 of the June 2006 Technology Times newsletter produced by the council.” (Philadelphia Inquirer, April 3, 2014)

McCord Blamed His Outsourcing on Y2K But Outsourcing Took Place Far After Y2K Scare: “But McCord’s organization was promoting outsourcing well after the Y2K scare. In 2001, twice in 2005 and in 2007, the Eastern Technology Council held training sessions and discussions about outsourcing, both in webinars and in live meetings.” (Philadelphia Inquirer, April 3, 2014)

UPDATE 2: The Corbett campaign issued a response to the Wolf response, pointing out a bit of mixed messaging from the Wolf camp.

“So much for millionaire Secretary Tom Wolf’s policy of building each other up and not tearing each other down, huh? “

UPDATE 3: The McCord campaign responded to the responses to their ad.

“When Tom Wolf decided to manufacture his own Wolf-branded cabinets, he declared himself the ‘master of his own destiny.’ He could have gone anywhere to make them. He chose Indiana,” said Mark Nevins, spokesman for the McCord campaign. “Did Tom feel that there were no qualified companies with whom to partner in Pennsylvania? What was he thinking? All he can do is try and change the subject. If he so badly wants to bring manufacturing back to Pennsylvania, maybe he should start by making his cabinets here.”

Wolf Organization Creates Manufacturing Jobs in Indiana.“’Instead of being creatures for somebody else, we’re going to be masters of our own destiny,’ said Tom Wolf, chairman, CEO and sixth-generation leader of the York-based Wolf Organization, which started in 1843 as a lumber, hardware and building materials business. “The 168-year-old firm — formerly a traditional wholesale distributor of building products — is re-inventing itself as a brand, contracting with Kountry Wood, an Indiana-based Amish manufacturer, to produce three styles of private label, WOLF-branded cabinets.” Source: http://www.ydr.com/ci_19871286

It’s the beginning of the end for the McCord campaign. Backlash from last night’s debating is going viral. Democrats are tired of the politics of old.
Wolf, Schwartz and McGinty all benefit from McCord’s uncontrolled and arrogant behavior.
It’s a sinking ship over at McCord HQ

Between the guilt by association attacks at the education forum last night in Philly and the ridiculously weak-tea non-gotcha of the Hoosier made cabinetry charge (seriously, making cabinets in the U.S. is a bad thing?), Rob McCord just made the three-way decision a LOT easier. Pity, too, since I’d been leaning toward him based on his performance at the treasurer’s office.

McCords attack on Wolf last night in Philadelphia was very counterintuitive.

Looked really bad, stupid and ill timed. But if you can appreciate the city it was done in and the timing in terms of current events and timing in terms of the primary when most people really start paying attention.

As daring as it was, it simply could be a case of a candidate knowing where he is and knowing his audience.

Wolf’s lead has to be eaten into and the general public does not really know him outside his TV commercials.

You are confusing Charlie Robertson with Steve Stetler. Charlie Robertson was convicted of nothing. He was charged and acquitted at trial (that means found “not guilty”, not just a hung jury) for a death that occurred 33 years before Robertson was at trial (murder was in 1969, trial was in 2002) and before Wolf even knew Robertson. Steve Stetler was the person convicted of a minor charge, certainly nothing close to murder.

But it’s understandable because McCord and Schwartz are punch-drunk fighters flailing at every opportunity. That is what you do when you are losing and desperate because you know your political career is on the verge of disappearing. It’s sad.

It’s a shame McCord’s campaign is using resources to attack a fellow Democrat instead of working together to defeat Corbett. I was on the fense, but I’ll definitely not be voting for McCord. These tactics are disgusting and I think most Pennsylvanians are tired of this type of politics. I agree with the other post. I think McCord finishes 3rd now.

Truth and JB-
How is this any different from the way FoxNews tried to connect Obama to Bill Ayers or Rev Wright?

If you think McCord’s attack on Wolf was okay, then you must have been okay with those attacks on Obama.

The other part of Rob’s attack was Wolf’s support of convicted murderer. Wolf’s stated he believes the guy is innocent. A new study just came out estimating that 4% (1 in 25) death row inmates are innocent, but most lack the resources for an appeal or proper defense.

Doesn’t anyone here have a old uncle or grandfather who has said something racist or maybe bigoted about gays? Does that make you responsible for their attitudes? Do you kick them out of family events or refuse to go to weddings?

It’s bad to make an attack like this when the party has to rally behind the Primary winner.

Desperate and Patheitic – I’ll go slowly too because it appears you don’t understand. The loan Wolf took out to fund his campaign used all of his assets as collateral. He said “I cobbled together everything I had”. He also said that included his beloved Jeep.

My issue isn’t the loan it is the fact that he self funded the primary big to buy it but has zero ability according to the man himself to fund the general.

The loan might not be bad business, lord knows Wolf’s history shows he loves leveraging debt and relationships to improve his personal position, but for the democrats it’s bad politics.

Unless he is fibbing again and really is super rich but doesn’t want the commoners to know.

I also agree his business is a good business story but it is not a good story for workers or PA. I’m sure more and more will come out.

This is going to ruin your “Rob McCord is God” narrative, but I will explain basic ideas slowly, with facts, since neither of you seems to understand how money works.

Nobody keeps $10 million in a savings account. No matter how much money you have, a savings account earns almost no interest. People who know how to invest put their money in investment vehicle with far greater returns.

Tom Wolf’s loan to assist in financing his campaign is a slightly more than 3% (LIBOR + 3%), a standard rate. An S&P 500 Index Fund (the most basic investment tracking progress of the stock market generally) made investors returns of 32.15% in 2013, 15.89% in 2012, 2.10% in 2011, 14.82% in 2010 and 25.94% in 2009.

According to your logic, Tom Wolf should not have taken a loan at barely more than 3%, but should have cashed-out any money he had invested in stocks when even the most basic investments made at least 4 times that rate in 4 of the last 5 years (and almost that rate in the one off-year). You must be great at business. Rob McCord knows about investing and you will notice he doesn’t criticize Tom Wolf on getting a loan rather than cashing-out his investments. Why? Because Rob McCord understands that line of criticism is laughable and shows a complete lack of knowledge in how money works. Maybe that is why Tom Wolf and Rob McCord have money and you do not.

As for loans, Tom Wolf did not loan his campaign any money, so the campaign is not responsible for any of it (nor is his company, just Wolf and his wife personally) and not one penny of contributor money can make its way into his pocket. The same can’t be said of Rob McCord. Rob McCord loaned his campaign $1.7 million. Some of his supporters loaned the campaign several hundred thousand dollars more. This means McCord and some of his contributors can be paid back with money from other contributors. Why is every penny McCord gave to his campaign a loan (even if he loses)? Why did McCord allow only certain people to give him a loan that can be paid back with money from others, while most people who gave can’t get any money paid back (even if McCord loses)?

Oh yeah, Rob McCord has done this before. He has given his campaign for Treasurer millions of dollars in loans that he paid back to himself with contributions from other people. He did the same thing with loans from his brother and other friends who he paid back with contributions from other people.

I wonder if everybody who gives to McCord’s campaign knows their money probably will go to paying back Rob McCord’s loan to himself and the loans his brother and a few other friends gave him. Not one penny of anybody’s contribution to Tom Wolf’s campaign is allowed to go to paying back his personal loan. That is the difference between a loan made to a campaign committee (McCord – can use contributions to pay back himself, family and friends) and a loan made to a person (Wolf – can’t use any contributions to pay back himself or anybody else).

If it’s true why is it negative? You can’t always have your cake and eat it too. What made me go hmmmm is- I put 10 million dollars of my own money. Made you think the money was in his savings account. But he borrowed it! But that isn’t what he said. What else hasn’t he said. Kind of like a wolf in Sheep’s clothing. I don’t dislike wolf but I think we don’t know the whole story about him either.

I agree with the vast majority of commentors. McCord comes across as desperate. Definitely a character defining moment. Fatal choice by the McCord campaign. I predict it moves McCord from 2nd to 3rd place on primary day.

My question to everyone complaining is why shouldn’t people find out about Wolf? Why should he just e allowed to buy up airtime pushing propaganda bearing no relationship with the truth? This ad is pretty tame.

David – it’s a real shame that calling someone out for their association with an admitted racist police officer accused of handing out bullets to white gangs ,resulting in the death of a young African American girl who was shot for stepping out of a car on the wrong street, is now “playing the race card”. Once again that speaks to character. I don’t know why anyone would go near someone running for any office that was running around yelling white power. The Clippers guy pales in comparison!

If this is the kind of candidate democrats nominate. they are in a real crisis.

I said a few week ago negative ads will have to be run against Wolf and that McCord will likely be the one to run them, This is pretty mild. I think they will get tougher. As long as you don’t bring up things from the distant past, negative ads are effective.

Ugh… very disappointing to see Democrats attack each other. I think we have 4 amazing people running and we should be proud whoever the nominee is. We should be focused on defeating Corbett. Unfortunately, Rob McCord made a critical ill-fated decision in going negative. He will not have my vote.

Sourcing cheap labor from right to work states should be an issue for all democrats and speaks to character when you are running misleading ads. The only reason to go to Indiana is the cost since all you are doing is stamping Wolf on cabinets underpaid workers make.

If you have a job or want a job labor issues should be important to you. If you happen to be right and no one cares it speaks volumes about where the democrats are headed as a party.

And no they don’t BOTH understand working people.

In my opinion this primary is a referendum on buying elections with money and the strength of the labor movement. I’m hoping the good guys win for the working men and women of this state.

Schwartz wasn’t negative in her ad with her crack about “the old boys club”? There are only two guys in the race (and both ahead of her), so she didn’t really need to name names.

I think Rob has great ideas and positions. He doesn’t need to go negative, but, like I said, he’s got to lock in those union votes.

It’s not like he accused Wolf of anything illegal or immoral, just implied that Wolf stretched the truth. The ad slightly implies that that Wolf was misleading about which “Indiana”. Cute. Will probably matter only to voters in Indiana, PA.

McCords ad is not an attack relative to the vicious ads one can see in other races. It was a towel snap…

I agree that its a two person race. And McCord would do well to maintain the high ground. Let Schwartz take the role of attack dog and McCord take the role of presenting itself as Gubernatorial in primary, and competitive in the general….. By pounding home the resume and how he’s already taken on the incumbent.

McCord has the endorsements. He should focus on his professional and personal story on TV and direct bulk of cash to GOTV efforts.

This is now a 2 man race mccord vs wolf. Im a little upset that mccord is attacking wolf so much. This is starting to get a little bloody and I dont like it. Im voting for wolf on the primary but if mccord is on the fall a ballot ill vote for him. Cant wait to see wolf’s first attack ad

Yay!! So glad to see McCord be the first candidate to go negative on TV!! It really says a lot about his character!! That’s just want Pennsylvania needs, another typical politician! I love this ad… because I know how well negative ads work in PA, especially when they’re negative against someone with such high favorability ratings!! hahaha

“Vote Rob McCord:
Because Pennsylvania needs another politician with NO integrity.”

Paid for and authorized by “Democrats Who Like to Mess Up Their Chances Of Winning General Elections”

Of course, it’s kind of silly to expect that no business in PA has to manufacture/assemble every part in PA to employ PA workers. It’s a false criteria (but great fodder for political ads).

It’s a good bet that none of the candidates are driving cars made in PA. The PA Tourism Office would be happy to have people from Indiana come here. Assembling their cabinets here should be a plus for PA and Wolf, not a knock.

But, I get it. Wolf pays/treats his employees so well that they don’t need a union, and the PA unions can’t be happy for them. The PA unions are great, but they want candidates who kiss their organized rumps.

McCord and Wolf BOTH understand working class families and treating workers properly. BOTH would be good for union and non-union workers and fight to raise the minimum wage.

The race is still a coin-flip for me. Both have great qualities.

I’m still looking for a tie-breaker issue get my vote:

1) Support change to rules for 3rd party ballot access to make it fairer.
(Rob’s solidly on two-party rule, so this could be pick up opportunity for Wolf).

2) Moratorium on new fracking/drilling.

3) Stopping all current drilling/fracking that uses chemicals not fully revealed to EPA and state DEP.

4) What is position on how much spending of the drilling tax revenue on wind/solar (besides just education)?

5) What is position on changing redistricting to non-partisan methods using computer algorithms/rules that don’t take voter data into account (just census counts, and checks to conform to civil rights guidelines)?

How about Rob McCord’s “job creating” record of jobs outside of Pennsylvania? Its common in business to have production facilities around the country. Hence his company isn’t just regional, its number 1 nationwide. Gotta love Democrats bashing honest people who create American jobs.

What Scandal! Outrageous! Tom Wolf’s company distributes stuff made two states away!
Seriously, the so-called dirt these candidate are digging up on each other would be called virtues if they were Republicans.